Research ArticleContamination of Soil with Pb and Sb at a Lead-AcidBattery Dumpsite and Their Potential Early Uptake byPhragmites australis

Abraham Jera France Ncube and Artwell Kanda

Department of Environmental Science Bindura University of Science Education P Bag 1020 Bindura Zimbabwe

Correspondence should be addressed to Artwell Kanda alzkandagmailcom

Received 27 June 2017 Accepted 26 September 2017 Published 23 October 2017

Academic Editor Marco Trevisan

Copyright copy 2017 Abraham Jera et al This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licensewhich permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited

Recycling of spent Lead-Acid Batteries (LABs) and disposal of process slag potentially contaminate soil with Pb and Sb Totaland available concentrations of Pb and Sb in three soil treatments and parts of Phragmites australis were determined by atomicabsorption spectrophotometry Soil with nonrecycled slag (NR) had higher total metal concentrations than that with recycled slag(RS) Low available fractions of Pb and Sb were found in the soil treatments before planting P australis After 16 weeks of growthof P australis the available fractions of Pb had no statistical difference from initial values (119901 gt 005) while available Sb fractionswere significantly lower when compared with their initial values (119901 lt 005) Metal transfer factors showed that P australis poorlyaccumulate Pb and Sb in roots and very poorly translocate them to leaves after growing for 8 and 16 weeks It may be a poorphytoextractor of Pb and Sb in metal-contaminated soil at least for the 16 weeks of its initial growth However the plant establisheditself on the metalliferous site where all vegetation had been destroyedThis could be useful for potential ecological restorationThelong-term phytoextraction potential of P australis in such environments as LABs may need further investigation

1 Introduction

Soil is a geochemical sink of contaminants and natural bufferfor controlling the transport of elements to the atmospherehydrosphere and biota [1] The mobility and bioavailabilityof these elements in soil are controlled by geochemicalclimatic and biological factors [2] Anthropogenic activitiesmay render soil unsuitable for various land uses Processesfor recycling of Lead-Acid Batteries (LABs) and dumping ofresultant slagmay be important routes for soil contaminationSome trace elements emitted to the biosphere have toxiceffects on the environment and human health (ie exposureto Pb and Sb) [3 4] People living near or working atLAB recycling sites and dumpsites may be exposed to Pband Sb through contact with contaminated water runoffand airborne particulate emissions Various physicochemicalclean-up technologies relying on intensive soil manipulation[5] or bioremediation [6] have been used for the reclamationof contaminated soil Howevermost of these technologies are

not cost-effective and environmentally friendly [1 7] Previ-ous studies have focused on phytoremediation technologies[8ndash11] and available evidence suggests that the technologiesare ecofriendly innovative and economical [12]

Human exposure to Pb and Sb may be occupational ornonoccupational Lead has historically been used in waterpipes artifacts LABs and gasoline additive tetraethyl-lead[13] Antimony has been used as a fire retardant in plasticsin coatings in electronics as a decoloring agent in glassas alloys in LABs and as a catalyst in the production ofpolyethylene terephthalate polymers [14] The demand forenergy and the subsequent widespread use of LABs by indi-viduals households and industries result in large tonnageof spent batteries Automobile LABs contain polypropyleneconcentrated H2SO4 Pb electrodes with either PbO2 pastecathode or Pb anode and various metals such as Sb AsCd Sn and Cu [15] Spent LABs are hazardous materials[14] that need appropriate handling and disposal in speciallydesigned facilities and not in conventional landfills Recycling

HindawiApplied and Environmental Soil ScienceVolume 2017 Article ID 8010453 9 pageshttpsdoiorg10115520178010453

2 Applied and Environmental Soil Science

of spent LABs may be more environmentally friendly thanopen dumping or incineration According to Royer et al [15]siteswhere LABs are recycled pose challenges for remediationdue to a variety of soil contamination sources

Phragmites australis (Cav) Trin ex Steud (commonreed) is a widely distributed macrophyte throughout theworld [16] The terrestrial form of the plant has higherdry matter content and low growth rate and specific leafsurface area which makes it resist environmental stressesand adapt to adverse environments better than the aquaticform [17] Phragmites australis can grow in environments ofextreme pH and poor nutrient content [18] Humans use thecommon reed to make woven mats for fishing as huntingtraps in musical instruments or in baskets among otherapplications Animals browse the plant Phragmites australishas reportedly been used for remediation of heavy-metal-contaminated aquatic ecosystems [19ndash21] To the best of theauthorsrsquo knowledge limited information is available on theearly uptake and accumulation of Pb and Sb by P australisunder field conditions particularly in soil with recycled andnonrecycled slag from the recycling of automobile LABs

The current study assessed the contamination of soil withLAB waste and the potential early uptake of Pb and Sb byP australis under field conditions The total and availableconcentrations of Pb and Sb in three soils (with recycled slagnonrecycled slag and reference) and totalmetal in three plantparts (root stem and leaf) of P australis were determinedFor remediation purposes the study site required a plantspecies which could survive with limited water supply suchas seasonal rainwater once established We hypothesized thatthe common reed can adapt to such an environment andonce introduced it could reestablish an ecosystem whereother plants may grow Then it would take up Sb and Pbduring its early stages of development The identification ofplant species for phytoremediation may help in ecologicalrestoration of contaminated environments

2 Materials and Methods

21 Description of the Study Site An automobile LAB dump-site located in Norton (17∘5210158401110158401015840S 30∘4110158402410158401015840E) a smalltown 46 km west of Harare Zimbabwe was studied Lead-Acid Battery waste was discharged directly onto a one-hectare dumpsite formerly a marshy area It appears thatthe phytotoxic effects of the contaminants were severe sinceall indigenous vegetation had been destroyed (Figure 1(b))Operations that generate LAB waste include automobilebattery breaking (Figure 1(a)) smelting and refining Fieldwork conducted on the dumpsite entailed planting vetivergrass and P australis of which the former subsequentlydied within three days (Figure 1(b)) but the latter survived(Figure 1(d)) The study site had fersialitic or chromic luvisolor rhodic paleustalf soil [22]

22 Sampling and Chemical Analyses The experimentaldesign consisted of three treatments which were replicatedthree times soil with nonrecycled slag (NR) recycled slag(RS) and a reference site (RF) The reference site was 5 kmaway in the windward side Three similar beds measuring

15m2 (5m times 3m) were prepared for each treatment Eachbed consisted of three rows with inter- and intrarow plantingof 1m times 1m It was raised to 30 cm in order to avoidground or near-neighbor effects [23] About 050m was leftfrom the edges Three of the 15 established planting points(20) from each bed were randomly selected for samplingthe growth media (05 kg) to a depth of 30 cm using asoil auger This was repeated for another two treatmentsSplit samples were used for the determination of selectedphysicochemical parameters Remaining samples were oven-dried at 105∘C for 1 h and then at 80∘C for 24 h (HeraeusD6450) [24] ground and sieved (lt1mm) These were usedfor the determination of other parameters including the totaland available metal concentrations The pH was determinedusing a glass pH meter (micropH 2002) in a 1 1 soilwatersuspension Electrical conductivity (EC) was measured usinga conductivitymeter (ERMAEC035)TheNO3-N concentra-tion of soil was determined by extraction with 2MKCl (1 10mv) and analyzed by colorimetry (UV-Vis spectrometermodel GENESYS 10S Thermo Scientific Germany) [25]Available phosphoruswas determined as PO4-P by extractionfrom soil with 05M NaHCO3 (42 g in 1 L) at pH 85and then measured colorimetrically (UV-Vis spectrometermodel GENESYS 10S Thermo Scientific Germany) usingacidified blue ammonium molybdate [26] The Walkley-Black method was used for determining organic matter [27]In this procedure carbon is oxidized by acidified dichromateand excess dichromate is back-titrated with ferrous ironwith diphenylamine indicator Soil textural composition wasdetermined using the Bouyoucos hydrometer method [28]Total Pb and Sb concentrations in the filtered digests weredetermined spectrometrically (Flame AAS GBC-Savant)

Two split powdered growth media samples from eachtreatment (1 g and 05 g) were separately used for total (aquaregia) and available (ammonium acetate) Pb and Sb extrac-tion A 1 g sample was digested in an acid mixture (HCl andHNO3 20ml 1 3 vv) on a hot plate (110∘C 3 h) until decom-position was complete This was then evaporated to reducevolume to about 5ml Digests were filtered (Whatman filterpaper No 1) washed with deionized water and transferredquantitatively to a 50ml volumetric flask Neutral ammo-nium acetate (1M CH3CO2NH4 pH 7) (10ml) was added tothe 05 g split sample of powdered growth media sample in a250ml beakerThe samplewas shaken in amultishaker (KahnShaker 140 rpm 1 h) and filtered (Whatman filter paper No1) into a 50ml volumetric flask which was completed to themark with 1M CH3CO2NH4 This was replicated three timesfor each treatmentThe concentrations of Pb and Sb in samplesolutions were determined spectrophotometrically (FlameAAS GBC-Savant) using appropriately prepared specificcalibration curves After 16 weeks of growth of P australisgrowthmedia in the rooting zone were sampled and analyzedfor both total and available Pb and Sb A reagent blankwas run ten times Metal recovery studies for growth mediawere carried out using a certified reference material (CRM)(channel sediment BCR 320R 0083) [29]

Rhizomes (96) of P australis (30ndash53 cm long) with someroots were taken from adult plants at a presumably unpol-luted (with Sb and Pb) site These were cut to approximately

Applied and Environmental Soil Science 3

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 1 (a) Battery breaking and (b) slag dumpsite with dead vetiver grass within 3 days of planting at a Lead-Acid Battery recycling andsmelting site in Norton Zimbabwe (c) P australis rhizomes before preparation for planting and (d) P australis growing in an experimentalbed of soil with recycled slag

25 cm each to give 157 rhizomes Ten randomly selectedcut rhizomes (64) were repeatedly washed with streamwater and then with deionized water They were oven-dried (Heraeus D6450 70∘C 24 h) ground and sieved tolt1mm [12] Ten 10 g split dried samples were separatelydecomposed in a muffle furnace (550∘C 6 h) and the asheswere dissolved in aqua regia (12ml) These were filtered(Whatman filter paper No 1) into 25ml volumetric flaskswhich were completed to the mark with double-distilledwater and analyzed for Pb and Sb using FAAS (GBC-Savant)[21] The remaining cut rhizomes (145) were planted in ninebeds (three beds for each treatment) at a depth of about20 cm and watered with 40 L of tap water (20 L polyethylenebucket) per bed skipping a day or two in between wateringevents No rainfall events were recorded during the studyperiod After eight weeks of planting three whole plants ofP australis were randomly harvested from each bed withinand across treatments Composite plant part samples (leavesstems and roots) were made for each treatment A gardenhoe was used to uproot plants while a pair of secateurs wasused to cut leaves Plant tissues were separately put in openpolypropylene bags labeled and sent to the laboratory Eachsample was washed with a jet of tap water and then with

distilled water Oven-dried samples were ground to a finepowder and thoroughlymixed Laboratory sampleswere thenprepared as described above for the growth media in order todetermine Pb and Sb concentrations Bioaccumulation andtranslocation factors were calculated [12] Lead and Sb wereextracted from two sets of three replicate samples of theCRM by acid digestions and the other set was extracted byammonium acetate and analyzed using similar procedures asthe growth media A procedural blank was run ten times forPb and Sb analysis

23 Quality Control and Statistical Procedures During sam-pling plant parts affected by herbivory or with signs ofdisease were avoided Composite samples were used andreplicated three times Reagents blanks and calibration stan-dards were run in between sample analyses All apparatusesused were washed thoroughly before use and then rinsedthrice using deionized water Analytical-grade reagents wereused in all the analyses A certified reference material wasused to validate the analytical procedure IBM SPSS statisticalpackage version 21 was used for data analysis Significantdifferences among physicochemical parameters for the threetreatments were determined using One-Way ANOVA and

4 Applied and Environmental Soil Science

LSD post hoc test All tests were considered significant at119901 lt 005 A paired sample 119905-test was used to compare theconcentrations of Pb and Sb in the growth media beforeplanting and 16 weeks after planting

3 Results and Discussion

31 Physicochemical Properties of Growth Media Elementrecovery studies of a CRM gave 958 (8143 plusmn 173mgkg)and satisfactory RSD (212) for total Pb Limits of detection(LODs) were 0001mgL (010mgkg) for Pb and 0003mgL(03mgkg) for Sb Mean concentrations of Pb and Sb in 10rhizomes before planting for the three treatments were lessthan the LOD Table 1 shows the physicochemical parametersof the growth media before and after 16 weeks of plantingP australis in three soil treatments (NR RS and RF) Soilwith recycled slag (RS) generally had significantly higherclay content and pH but lower organic matter (OM) andnutrients (NO3

minus PO43minus) than soil with nonrecycled slag

(NR) before and after 16 weeks of planting P australis (119901 lt005) The concentrations of Pb and Sb in the soil treatmentsdecreased in the order NRS gt RS gt RF After 16 weeks ofplanting the concentrations of NO3

minus (NRS and RS) and OM(RF) were significantly lower than their initial values beforeplanting (119905-test 119901 lt 005) Not significantly different initialand final soil parameters after 16 weeks could be explainedby the absence of rainfall events during the study period(except for occasional initial watering) which could promoteleaching overall insignificant element uptake by P australis(for Sb) and additive effects of atmospheric deposition fromthe adjacent LAB recycling processes However leaching ofSb and Pb could not be excluded through watering but toa lesser extent as the two elements are strongly bound bysoil clay minerals and organic matter [1] High pH of slagsoil treatments (107ndash121) may not favor mineralization of Pband Sb The observed significant decrease in soil Sb after 16weeks inNRcould be attributed to plant uptake leaching andother soil biochemical processes There were no significantdifferences in the concentrations of Pb before planting and16 weeks after planting of P australis for both NRS and RStreatments (119901 gt 005)

US EPA [5] reported 80000mgkg Pb at LAB recyclingsites Soil that was 60m away from an abandoned batterywaste site had 41890mgkg Pb [30] At another abandonedscrap deposit site soil had 104000mgkg Pb [24]This showsthat LAB wastes are a very important route for the releaseof trace elements into the environment People living nearor working at sources of Sb and Pb such as smelters coalfired plants and refuse incinerators may be exposed to toxicelements in dust soil and vegetation A study of the exposureof residents and children living in a battery recycling craftvillage in Vietnam showed Pb-contaminated hair bloodand urine [31] Similar observations of increased blood Pblevels were made in another study at a LAB recycling andmanufacturing plant in Kenya [32] Recycling processes maynot be very efficient in recovering metals Slag from recyclingLABs still contains up to 5 Pb [13 14] Other than directdisposal of slag on the dumpsite toxic elementsmay be addedto the soil surface by atmospheric deposition of fugitive dust

and drainage or leachate from waste heaps Soil naturallycontains trace Sb at concentrations of less than 1mgkg(average 048mgkg) but values of 109ndash2550mgkg Sb fromprocessing sites were reported [3] An average backgroundconcentration of 067mgkg Sb was also reported [1]

Clay mineral content organic matter phosphorus andmoisture content of a soil are very important parameters thatinfluence the bioavailability and uptake of trace elements byplants [1 2 33] Results from the current study clearly showthat soil at the LAB dumpsite was contaminated with Sb andPb Exposed populationsmay be encouraged to have Pb levelsin their blood hair and urine monitored for possible adversehealth effects

32 Concentrations of Sb and Pb in Plant Parts of P australisTable 2 shows the concentrations of Sb and Pb in plantparts of P australis grown in three different soil treatments(NR RS and RF) after 8 and 16 weeks of planting Therecycled slag treatment (RS) had lower concentrations of Pband Sb for roots than the nonrecycled slag soil treatment(NR) (119901 lt 005) No significant differences were observedfor the concentrations of both elements between NR andRS treatments for leaves and stems after 8 and 16 weeks ofplanting P australis (119901 gt 005) A paired 119905-test to compareelemental concentrations within a soil treatment between 8-and 16-week growth periods showed significant differences(119901 lt 005) for Pb and Sb in roots (NR and RS) onlyBoth metals were not detected in all plant parts from theRF treatment Concentrations of Pb and Sb decreased in theorder root gt leaf gt stem for NR and RS treatments Resultssuggest that Pb and Sb were coming from LAB slag

Table 3 shows that the Biological Absorption Factor(BAF) and Translocation Factor (TF) were less than unity forelement transfer These indicate that after 8 and 16 weeks ofplanting P australis poorly accumulate Pb and Sb into rootsand poorly translocate them to leaves Plant roots appeared totake up more Sb than Pb in both NR and RS soil treatmentsafter harvesting at 16 weeks Phragmites australis appeared totake up more Pb after 16 weeks (33-fold) and Sb (55-fold) inthe NR soil treatment and more Pb (5-fold) and Sb (45-fold)in the RS soil treatment than it did after 8 weeks of growth

The above-ground below-ground concentration ratios ofSb and Pb were very small (less than 015) in NR and RSsoil treatments This may suggest that the common reed (Paustralis) is poor for phytoextraction of Pb and Sb fromcontaminated soil A translocation factor well above oneindicates a possible candidate for phytoextraction [10] Inits various remediation applications in contaminated aquaticecosystems P australis showed that it is a poor phytoextractorof Pb and Sb but good for phytorhizofiltration [19 34 35]One drawback in this field experimental setup and thusphytoremediation of trace elements from contaminated soilis the failure to control leaching of trace elements Particulatefallout and foliar absorption of Pb cannot be excluded inthis study since the element has been reported to be poorlytranslocated to leaves [1] yet Pb and Sb were recorded inappreciable amounts in the current study Establishment ofvegetation in an area where all native plants were destroyedwas fascinatingThis development may help filter and reduce

Applied and Environmental Soil Science 5

Table1Ph

ysicochemicalcharacteris

ticso

fthree

soiltre

atmentsreplicated

threetim

es(non

recycle

dsla

grecycle

dsla

gandreference)ataL

ABdu

mpsite

inNortonZimbabw

eParameters

wered

etermined

before

plantin

gand16

weeks

after

plantin

gof

Pau

stralis

Values

aree

xpressed

asmeanplusmnSD

oftriplicatem

easurements

Soilparameter

Before

plantin

g16

weeks

after

plantin

gNon

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oil

Non

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oil

Clay

633plusmn15

31233plusmn15

31867plusmn252

767plusmn16

31063plusmn16

42160plusmn295

Silt

5400plusmn265

6100plusmn400

3400plusmn300

5510plusmn392

5977plusmn15

33460plusmn040

Fine

sand

3967plusmn15

32667plusmn252

4733plusmn058

3723plusmn452

2960plusmn291

4380plusmn317

Moistu

recontent(g)

453plusmn022

676plusmn004

1280plusmn030

mdashmdash

mdashpH

(H2O)

1090plusmn036

1210plusmn020lowast

723plusmn006

1070plusmn010

1093plusmn015lowast

717plusmn006

PO43minus(m

gkg)

085plusmn012

050plusmn002lowast

145plusmn003

074plusmn009

058plusmn003lowast

137plusmn017

NO3minus(m

gkg)

061plusmn004lowast

ND

137plusmn005

055plusmn007lowast

ND

130plusmn008

EC(120583Scm

)14450plusmn1208

8580plusmn835

4103plusmn444

15217plusmn892

10840plusmn1659

3867plusmn18

2Organicmatter()

093plusmn006

031plusmn003

311plusmn018lowast

087plusmn009

038plusmn003

357plusmn005lowast

TotalP

b(m

gkg)

48840plusmn400

02710

3plusmn3869

051plusmn005

43860plusmn70

6623380plusmn2495

ND

TotalSb(m

gkg)

346

0plusmn64

5lowast2583plusmn523

ND

2343plusmn531lowast

2163plusmn172

ND

AvailableP

b(m

gkg)

27841plusmn2050

1115

4plusmn581

mdash23008plusmn4233

9534plusmn3416

mdashAv

ailableS

b(m

gkgl)

8631plusmn1308lowast

6483plusmn832lowast

mdash4968plusmn1636lowast

4254plusmn824lowast

mdashNDn

otdetected

(below

LOD)mdash

(dash)p

aram

eter

notd

eterminedA

llparametersw

eresig

nificantly

different

acrossthethreetre

atmentsbefore

plantin

g(119901lt005)lowastParameterssignificantly

different

before

plantin

gandaft

erplantin

gof

Pau

stralisfora

givensoiltre

atment(paire

d119905-test119901lt005)

6 Applied and Environmental Soil Science

Table2Con

centratio

nsof

PbandSb

intissues

ofPau

stralisharvestedfro

mdifferent

soiltre

atmentsaft

er8and16

weeks

ofplantin

gVa

lues

areexpressedas

meanplusmnSD

oftriplicate

measurementsin

mgkgD

W

Elem

ent

Growth

perio

d(w

ks)

Non

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oiltreatment

Root

Leaf

Stem

Root

Leaf

Stem

Root

Leaf

Stem

Pb8

13657plusmn1891alowast

877plusmn090

a288plusmn027

a9890plusmn1276

blowast78

3plusmn174a

263plusmn030

aND

ND

ND

16590plusmn36

alowast861plusmn10

4a276plusmn038

a46

667plusmn2517

blowast804plusmn023

a296plusmn012

aND

ND

ND

Sb8

6783plusmn99

7alowast

333plusmn036

a14

5plusmn19

1a4784plusmn386

blowast289plusmn019

a15

6plusmn023

aND

ND

ND

16260plusmn20

alowast347plusmn032

a17

3plusmn0171a

205plusmn18

blowast294plusmn021

a15

0plusmn016

aND

ND

ND

NDn

otdetected

(ltLO

D)Differentsup

erscrip

ts(ab)inarowdeno

tesig

nificantly

different

concentrations

(119901lt005)o

fagivenele

mentfor

aplanttissue

acrosstre

atmentslowastin

acolumndeno

tessignificantly

different

concentrations

(paired119905-test119901lt005)for

agiven

elem

entfor

aspecific

planttiss

uebetween8-

and16-w

eekgrow

thperio

dswith

inas

oiltreatment

Applied and Environmental Soil Science 7

Table3Bioaccum

ulationandtranslo

catio

nfactorso

fPbandSb

forP

austra

lisin

different

soiltre

atmentsaft

er8and16

weeks

ofplantin

g

Elem

ent

Growth

perio

d(w

ks)

Non

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oiltreatment

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

Pb8

0003

006

009

000

4008

011

mdashmdash

mdash16

001

001

002

002

002

002

mdashmdash

mdash

Sb8

002

005

007

002

006

009

mdashmdash

mdash16

011

001

002

009

001

002

mdashmdash

mdash[E]rcon

centratio

nof

thee

lementinrootso

fplant[E]sconcentrationof

thee

lementinsoilon

which

thep

lant

isgrow

ing[E]l

concentrationof

thee

lementinleaves

ofplant[E]stconcentrationof

thee

lement

inthes

tem

ofplant

8 Applied and Environmental Soil Science

surface runoff laden with contaminants It will be interestingto find out the nature of other plants that would be establishedon the site with time and how P australismay take up Pb andSb

4 Conclusions

Contamination of soil with LAB recycling wastes and poten-tial early uptake of Pb and Sb by P australis after 8 and16 weeks of planting were studied at a dumpsite Slag andLAB recycling processes introduced large quantities of Pband Sb into soil altered soil characteristics and destroyedindigenous vegetation Soil with recycled slag had lowernutrient (NO3

minus PO43minus) content OM and trace elements (Pb

Sb) than soil with nonrecycled slag Uptake of Pb and Sb byroots of P australis appeared to increase over time althoughthe poor accumulation in leaves and stems appeared toremain constantThe NR soil treatment appeared to promoteroot uptake of Sb compared to Pb Phragmites australis poorlyaccumulates Pb and Sb into roots and poorly translocatesthem to leaves and thus it is a poor candidate speciesfor phytoextraction in contaminated field soil conditionsHowever its ability to be established on a site where allvegetation had been destroyed could further be explored asa starting point for ecological restoration Accumulation ofPb and Sb by P australis in the long term and possibilitiesof whether other plant species would get established onthis site may need further studies Based on findings andresults obtained in the current study the authors recommendbiological monitoring of Pb in urine hair and blood samplesfor LAB recyclingworkers and populations residing near LABsmelters and dumpsites

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding the publication of this article

References

[1] A Kabata-Pendias Trace Elements in Soils and Plants Taylorand Francis New York NY USA 4th edition 2011

[2] A Kabata-Pendias ldquoSoil-plant transfer of trace elementsmdashanenvironmental issuerdquo Geoderma vol 122 no 2ndash4 pp 143ndash1492004

[3] Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)Toxicological Profile for Antimony and Compounds US PublicHealth Service Washington DC USA 1992

[4] Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)Toxicological Profile for Lead US Public Health Service Wash-ington DC USA 2007

[5] US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) ldquoInnovativetreatment technologies semi-annual status reportrdquo EPA5402-91014 US EPA Washington DC USA 1991

[6] C J Rhodes ldquoApplications of bioremediation and phytoreme-diationrdquo Science Progress vol 96 no 4 pp 417ndash427 2013

[7] H Ali E Khan and M A Sajad ldquoPhytoremediation of heavymetalsmdashconcepts and applicationsrdquo Chemosphere vol 91 no 7pp 869ndash881 2013

[8] M M Lasat ldquoPhytoextraction of toxic metals a review ofbiological mechanismsrdquo Journal of Environmental Quality vol31 no 1 pp 109ndash120 2002

[9] N Marmiroli M Marmiroli and E Maesti ldquoPhytoremediationand phytotechnologies a review for the present and the futurerdquoin Soil and Water pollution Monitoring Protection and Remedi-ation I Twardowska et al Ed pp 403ndash416 Springer BerlinGermany 2006

[10] M Mench N Lepp V Bert et al ldquoSuccesses and limitationsof phytotechnologies at field scale outcomes assessment andoutlook fromCOSTAction 859rdquo Journal of Soils and Sedimentsvol 10 no 6 pp 1039ndash1070 2010

[11] P Sharma and S Pandey ldquoStatus of phytoremediation in worldscenariordquo International Journal of Environmental Bioremedia-tion and Biodegradation vol 2 no 4 pp 178ndash191 2014

[12] N Shabani and M H Sayadi ldquoEvaluation of heavy metalsaccumulation by two emergent macrophytes from the pollutedsoil an experimental studyrdquo Environmentalist vol 32 no 1 pp91ndash98 2012

[13] United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) ldquoTechnicalguidelines for the environmentally sound management of lead-acid battery wastesrdquo UNEPCHWTWG201 UNEP GenevaSwitzerland 2002

[14] A Smaniotto A Antunes I D N Filho et al ldquoQualitativelead extraction from recycled lead-acid batteries slagrdquo Journalof Hazardous Materials vol 172 no 2-3 pp 1677ndash1680 2009

[15] M D Royer A Selvakumar and R Gaire ldquoControl technolo-gies for remediation of contaminated soil and waste depositsat super fund lead battery recycling sitesrdquo Journal of the Air ampWasteManagement Association vol 42 no 7 pp 970ndash980 1992

[16] J Swearingen and K Saltonstall Phragmites Field GuideDistinguishing Native and Exotic Forms of Common Reed(Phragmites australis) in the United States Plant ConservationAlliance Weeds Gone Wild 2010 httpwwwnpsgovplantsalienpubsindexhtm

[17] P Li W Han N Thevs et al ldquoA comparison of the functionaltraits of common reed (Phragmites australis) in NorthernChina aquatic versus terrestrial ecotypesrdquo PLoSONE vol 9 no2 Article ID e89063 2014

[18] C L Gucker Phragmites australis in Fire Effects InformationSystem US Department of Agriculture Forest Service RockyMountain Research Station Fire Sciences Laboratory 2008httpwwwfsfedusdatabasefeis

[19] F Ghassemzadeh H Yousefzadeh and M H Arbab-ZavarldquoRemoving arsenic and antimony by Phragmites australisrhizofiltration technologyrdquo Journal of Applied Sciences vol 8no 9 pp 1668ndash1675 2008

[20] N A Anjum I Ahmad M Valega et al ldquoSalt marsh macro-phyte Phragmites australis strategies assessment for its domi-nance in mercury-contaminated coastal lagoon (Ria de AveiroPortugal)rdquo Environmental Science and Pollution Research vol19 no 7 pp 2879ndash2888 2012

[21] E Grisey X Laffray O Contoz E Cavalli J Mudry and LAleya ldquoThe bioaccumulation performance of reeds and cattailsin a constructed treatment wetland for removal of heavy metalsin landfill leachate treatment (Etueffont France)rdquoWater Air ampSoil Pollution vol 223 no 4 pp 1723ndash1741 2012

[22] J Gotosa K Nezandonyi A Kanda S M Mushiri A Kuh-lande and T Nyamugure ldquoEffects of irrigating Eucalyptusgrandis plantations with a mixture of domestic and pulpand paper mill effluent on soil quality at a site in northern

Applied and Environmental Soil Science 3

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 1 (a) Battery breaking and (b) slag dumpsite with dead vetiver grass within 3 days of planting at a Lead-Acid Battery recycling andsmelting site in Norton Zimbabwe (c) P australis rhizomes before preparation for planting and (d) P australis growing in an experimentalbed of soil with recycled slag

25 cm each to give 157 rhizomes Ten randomly selectedcut rhizomes (64) were repeatedly washed with streamwater and then with deionized water They were oven-dried (Heraeus D6450 70∘C 24 h) ground and sieved tolt1mm [12] Ten 10 g split dried samples were separatelydecomposed in a muffle furnace (550∘C 6 h) and the asheswere dissolved in aqua regia (12ml) These were filtered(Whatman filter paper No 1) into 25ml volumetric flaskswhich were completed to the mark with double-distilledwater and analyzed for Pb and Sb using FAAS (GBC-Savant)[21] The remaining cut rhizomes (145) were planted in ninebeds (three beds for each treatment) at a depth of about20 cm and watered with 40 L of tap water (20 L polyethylenebucket) per bed skipping a day or two in between wateringevents No rainfall events were recorded during the studyperiod After eight weeks of planting three whole plants ofP australis were randomly harvested from each bed withinand across treatments Composite plant part samples (leavesstems and roots) were made for each treatment A gardenhoe was used to uproot plants while a pair of secateurs wasused to cut leaves Plant tissues were separately put in openpolypropylene bags labeled and sent to the laboratory Eachsample was washed with a jet of tap water and then with

distilled water Oven-dried samples were ground to a finepowder and thoroughlymixed Laboratory sampleswere thenprepared as described above for the growth media in order todetermine Pb and Sb concentrations Bioaccumulation andtranslocation factors were calculated [12] Lead and Sb wereextracted from two sets of three replicate samples of theCRM by acid digestions and the other set was extracted byammonium acetate and analyzed using similar procedures asthe growth media A procedural blank was run ten times forPb and Sb analysis

23 Quality Control and Statistical Procedures During sam-pling plant parts affected by herbivory or with signs ofdisease were avoided Composite samples were used andreplicated three times Reagents blanks and calibration stan-dards were run in between sample analyses All apparatusesused were washed thoroughly before use and then rinsedthrice using deionized water Analytical-grade reagents wereused in all the analyses A certified reference material wasused to validate the analytical procedure IBM SPSS statisticalpackage version 21 was used for data analysis Significantdifferences among physicochemical parameters for the threetreatments were determined using One-Way ANOVA and

4 Applied and Environmental Soil Science

LSD post hoc test All tests were considered significant at119901 lt 005 A paired sample 119905-test was used to compare theconcentrations of Pb and Sb in the growth media beforeplanting and 16 weeks after planting

3 Results and Discussion

31 Physicochemical Properties of Growth Media Elementrecovery studies of a CRM gave 958 (8143 plusmn 173mgkg)and satisfactory RSD (212) for total Pb Limits of detection(LODs) were 0001mgL (010mgkg) for Pb and 0003mgL(03mgkg) for Sb Mean concentrations of Pb and Sb in 10rhizomes before planting for the three treatments were lessthan the LOD Table 1 shows the physicochemical parametersof the growth media before and after 16 weeks of plantingP australis in three soil treatments (NR RS and RF) Soilwith recycled slag (RS) generally had significantly higherclay content and pH but lower organic matter (OM) andnutrients (NO3

minus PO43minus) than soil with nonrecycled slag

(NR) before and after 16 weeks of planting P australis (119901 lt005) The concentrations of Pb and Sb in the soil treatmentsdecreased in the order NRS gt RS gt RF After 16 weeks ofplanting the concentrations of NO3

minus (NRS and RS) and OM(RF) were significantly lower than their initial values beforeplanting (119905-test 119901 lt 005) Not significantly different initialand final soil parameters after 16 weeks could be explainedby the absence of rainfall events during the study period(except for occasional initial watering) which could promoteleaching overall insignificant element uptake by P australis(for Sb) and additive effects of atmospheric deposition fromthe adjacent LAB recycling processes However leaching ofSb and Pb could not be excluded through watering but toa lesser extent as the two elements are strongly bound bysoil clay minerals and organic matter [1] High pH of slagsoil treatments (107ndash121) may not favor mineralization of Pband Sb The observed significant decrease in soil Sb after 16weeks inNRcould be attributed to plant uptake leaching andother soil biochemical processes There were no significantdifferences in the concentrations of Pb before planting and16 weeks after planting of P australis for both NRS and RStreatments (119901 gt 005)

US EPA [5] reported 80000mgkg Pb at LAB recyclingsites Soil that was 60m away from an abandoned batterywaste site had 41890mgkg Pb [30] At another abandonedscrap deposit site soil had 104000mgkg Pb [24]This showsthat LAB wastes are a very important route for the releaseof trace elements into the environment People living nearor working at sources of Sb and Pb such as smelters coalfired plants and refuse incinerators may be exposed to toxicelements in dust soil and vegetation A study of the exposureof residents and children living in a battery recycling craftvillage in Vietnam showed Pb-contaminated hair bloodand urine [31] Similar observations of increased blood Pblevels were made in another study at a LAB recycling andmanufacturing plant in Kenya [32] Recycling processes maynot be very efficient in recovering metals Slag from recyclingLABs still contains up to 5 Pb [13 14] Other than directdisposal of slag on the dumpsite toxic elementsmay be addedto the soil surface by atmospheric deposition of fugitive dust

and drainage or leachate from waste heaps Soil naturallycontains trace Sb at concentrations of less than 1mgkg(average 048mgkg) but values of 109ndash2550mgkg Sb fromprocessing sites were reported [3] An average backgroundconcentration of 067mgkg Sb was also reported [1]

Clay mineral content organic matter phosphorus andmoisture content of a soil are very important parameters thatinfluence the bioavailability and uptake of trace elements byplants [1 2 33] Results from the current study clearly showthat soil at the LAB dumpsite was contaminated with Sb andPb Exposed populationsmay be encouraged to have Pb levelsin their blood hair and urine monitored for possible adversehealth effects

32 Concentrations of Sb and Pb in Plant Parts of P australisTable 2 shows the concentrations of Sb and Pb in plantparts of P australis grown in three different soil treatments(NR RS and RF) after 8 and 16 weeks of planting Therecycled slag treatment (RS) had lower concentrations of Pband Sb for roots than the nonrecycled slag soil treatment(NR) (119901 lt 005) No significant differences were observedfor the concentrations of both elements between NR andRS treatments for leaves and stems after 8 and 16 weeks ofplanting P australis (119901 gt 005) A paired 119905-test to compareelemental concentrations within a soil treatment between 8-and 16-week growth periods showed significant differences(119901 lt 005) for Pb and Sb in roots (NR and RS) onlyBoth metals were not detected in all plant parts from theRF treatment Concentrations of Pb and Sb decreased in theorder root gt leaf gt stem for NR and RS treatments Resultssuggest that Pb and Sb were coming from LAB slag

Table 3 shows that the Biological Absorption Factor(BAF) and Translocation Factor (TF) were less than unity forelement transfer These indicate that after 8 and 16 weeks ofplanting P australis poorly accumulate Pb and Sb into rootsand poorly translocate them to leaves Plant roots appeared totake up more Sb than Pb in both NR and RS soil treatmentsafter harvesting at 16 weeks Phragmites australis appeared totake up more Pb after 16 weeks (33-fold) and Sb (55-fold) inthe NR soil treatment and more Pb (5-fold) and Sb (45-fold)in the RS soil treatment than it did after 8 weeks of growth

The above-ground below-ground concentration ratios ofSb and Pb were very small (less than 015) in NR and RSsoil treatments This may suggest that the common reed (Paustralis) is poor for phytoextraction of Pb and Sb fromcontaminated soil A translocation factor well above oneindicates a possible candidate for phytoextraction [10] Inits various remediation applications in contaminated aquaticecosystems P australis showed that it is a poor phytoextractorof Pb and Sb but good for phytorhizofiltration [19 34 35]One drawback in this field experimental setup and thusphytoremediation of trace elements from contaminated soilis the failure to control leaching of trace elements Particulatefallout and foliar absorption of Pb cannot be excluded inthis study since the element has been reported to be poorlytranslocated to leaves [1] yet Pb and Sb were recorded inappreciable amounts in the current study Establishment ofvegetation in an area where all native plants were destroyedwas fascinatingThis development may help filter and reduce

Applied and Environmental Soil Science 5

Table1Ph

ysicochemicalcharacteris

ticso

fthree

soiltre

atmentsreplicated

threetim

es(non

recycle

dsla

grecycle

dsla

gandreference)ataL

ABdu

mpsite

inNortonZimbabw

eParameters

wered

etermined

before

plantin

gand16

weeks

after

plantin

gof

Pau

stralis

Values

aree

xpressed

asmeanplusmnSD

oftriplicatem

easurements

Soilparameter

Before

plantin

g16

weeks

after

plantin

gNon

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oil

Non

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oil

Clay

633plusmn15

31233plusmn15

31867plusmn252

767plusmn16

31063plusmn16

42160plusmn295

Silt

5400plusmn265

6100plusmn400

3400plusmn300

5510plusmn392

5977plusmn15

33460plusmn040

Fine

sand

3967plusmn15

32667plusmn252

4733plusmn058

3723plusmn452

2960plusmn291

4380plusmn317

Moistu

recontent(g)

453plusmn022

676plusmn004

1280plusmn030

mdashmdash

mdashpH

(H2O)

1090plusmn036

1210plusmn020lowast

723plusmn006

1070plusmn010

1093plusmn015lowast

717plusmn006

PO43minus(m

gkg)

085plusmn012

050plusmn002lowast

145plusmn003

074plusmn009

058plusmn003lowast

137plusmn017

NO3minus(m

gkg)

061plusmn004lowast

ND

137plusmn005

055plusmn007lowast

ND

130plusmn008

EC(120583Scm

)14450plusmn1208

8580plusmn835

4103plusmn444

15217plusmn892

10840plusmn1659

3867plusmn18

2Organicmatter()

093plusmn006

031plusmn003

311plusmn018lowast

087plusmn009

038plusmn003

357plusmn005lowast

TotalP

b(m

gkg)

48840plusmn400

02710

3plusmn3869

051plusmn005

43860plusmn70

6623380plusmn2495

ND

TotalSb(m

gkg)

346

0plusmn64

5lowast2583plusmn523

ND

2343plusmn531lowast

2163plusmn172

ND

AvailableP

b(m

gkg)

27841plusmn2050

1115

4plusmn581

mdash23008plusmn4233

9534plusmn3416

mdashAv

ailableS

b(m

gkgl)

8631plusmn1308lowast

6483plusmn832lowast

mdash4968plusmn1636lowast

4254plusmn824lowast

mdashNDn

otdetected

(below

LOD)mdash

(dash)p

aram

eter

notd

eterminedA

llparametersw

eresig

nificantly

different

acrossthethreetre

atmentsbefore

plantin

g(119901lt005)lowastParameterssignificantly

different

before

plantin

gandaft

erplantin

gof

Pau

stralisfora

givensoiltre

atment(paire

d119905-test119901lt005)

6 Applied and Environmental Soil Science

Table2Con

centratio

nsof

PbandSb

intissues

ofPau

stralisharvestedfro

mdifferent

soiltre

atmentsaft

er8and16

weeks

ofplantin

gVa

lues

areexpressedas

meanplusmnSD

oftriplicate

measurementsin

mgkgD

W

Elem

ent

Growth

perio

d(w

ks)

Non

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oiltreatment

Root

Leaf

Stem

Root

Leaf

Stem

Root

Leaf

Stem

Pb8

13657plusmn1891alowast

877plusmn090

a288plusmn027

a9890plusmn1276

blowast78

3plusmn174a

263plusmn030

aND

ND

ND

16590plusmn36

alowast861plusmn10

4a276plusmn038

a46

667plusmn2517

blowast804plusmn023

a296plusmn012

aND

ND

ND

Sb8

6783plusmn99

7alowast

333plusmn036

a14

5plusmn19

1a4784plusmn386

blowast289plusmn019

a15

6plusmn023

aND

ND

ND

16260plusmn20

alowast347plusmn032

a17

3plusmn0171a

205plusmn18

blowast294plusmn021

a15

0plusmn016

aND

ND

ND

NDn

otdetected

(ltLO

D)Differentsup

erscrip

ts(ab)inarowdeno

tesig

nificantly

different

concentrations

(119901lt005)o

fagivenele

mentfor

aplanttissue

acrosstre

atmentslowastin

acolumndeno

tessignificantly

different

concentrations

(paired119905-test119901lt005)for

agiven

elem

entfor

aspecific

planttiss

uebetween8-

and16-w

eekgrow

thperio

dswith

inas

oiltreatment

Applied and Environmental Soil Science 7

Table3Bioaccum

ulationandtranslo

catio

nfactorso

fPbandSb

forP

austra

lisin

different

soiltre

atmentsaft

er8and16

weeks

ofplantin

g

Elem

ent

Growth

perio

d(w

ks)

Non

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oiltreatment

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

Pb8

0003

006

009

000

4008

011

mdashmdash

mdash16

001

001

002

002

002

002

mdashmdash

mdash

Sb8

002

005

007

002

006

009

mdashmdash

mdash16

011

001

002

009

001

002

mdashmdash

mdash[E]rcon

centratio

nof

thee

lementinrootso

fplant[E]sconcentrationof

thee

lementinsoilon

which

thep

lant

isgrow

ing[E]l

concentrationof

thee

lementinleaves

ofplant[E]stconcentrationof

thee

lement

inthes

tem

ofplant

8 Applied and Environmental Soil Science

surface runoff laden with contaminants It will be interestingto find out the nature of other plants that would be establishedon the site with time and how P australismay take up Pb andSb

4 Conclusions

Contamination of soil with LAB recycling wastes and poten-tial early uptake of Pb and Sb by P australis after 8 and16 weeks of planting were studied at a dumpsite Slag andLAB recycling processes introduced large quantities of Pband Sb into soil altered soil characteristics and destroyedindigenous vegetation Soil with recycled slag had lowernutrient (NO3

minus PO43minus) content OM and trace elements (Pb

Sb) than soil with nonrecycled slag Uptake of Pb and Sb byroots of P australis appeared to increase over time althoughthe poor accumulation in leaves and stems appeared toremain constantThe NR soil treatment appeared to promoteroot uptake of Sb compared to Pb Phragmites australis poorlyaccumulates Pb and Sb into roots and poorly translocatesthem to leaves and thus it is a poor candidate speciesfor phytoextraction in contaminated field soil conditionsHowever its ability to be established on a site where allvegetation had been destroyed could further be explored asa starting point for ecological restoration Accumulation ofPb and Sb by P australis in the long term and possibilitiesof whether other plant species would get established onthis site may need further studies Based on findings andresults obtained in the current study the authors recommendbiological monitoring of Pb in urine hair and blood samplesfor LAB recyclingworkers and populations residing near LABsmelters and dumpsites

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding the publication of this article

References

[1] A Kabata-Pendias Trace Elements in Soils and Plants Taylorand Francis New York NY USA 4th edition 2011

[2] A Kabata-Pendias ldquoSoil-plant transfer of trace elementsmdashanenvironmental issuerdquo Geoderma vol 122 no 2ndash4 pp 143ndash1492004

[3] Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)Toxicological Profile for Antimony and Compounds US PublicHealth Service Washington DC USA 1992

[4] Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)Toxicological Profile for Lead US Public Health Service Wash-ington DC USA 2007

[5] US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) ldquoInnovativetreatment technologies semi-annual status reportrdquo EPA5402-91014 US EPA Washington DC USA 1991

[6] C J Rhodes ldquoApplications of bioremediation and phytoreme-diationrdquo Science Progress vol 96 no 4 pp 417ndash427 2013

[7] H Ali E Khan and M A Sajad ldquoPhytoremediation of heavymetalsmdashconcepts and applicationsrdquo Chemosphere vol 91 no 7pp 869ndash881 2013

[8] M M Lasat ldquoPhytoextraction of toxic metals a review ofbiological mechanismsrdquo Journal of Environmental Quality vol31 no 1 pp 109ndash120 2002

[9] N Marmiroli M Marmiroli and E Maesti ldquoPhytoremediationand phytotechnologies a review for the present and the futurerdquoin Soil and Water pollution Monitoring Protection and Remedi-ation I Twardowska et al Ed pp 403ndash416 Springer BerlinGermany 2006

[10] M Mench N Lepp V Bert et al ldquoSuccesses and limitationsof phytotechnologies at field scale outcomes assessment andoutlook fromCOSTAction 859rdquo Journal of Soils and Sedimentsvol 10 no 6 pp 1039ndash1070 2010

[11] P Sharma and S Pandey ldquoStatus of phytoremediation in worldscenariordquo International Journal of Environmental Bioremedia-tion and Biodegradation vol 2 no 4 pp 178ndash191 2014

[12] N Shabani and M H Sayadi ldquoEvaluation of heavy metalsaccumulation by two emergent macrophytes from the pollutedsoil an experimental studyrdquo Environmentalist vol 32 no 1 pp91ndash98 2012

[13] United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) ldquoTechnicalguidelines for the environmentally sound management of lead-acid battery wastesrdquo UNEPCHWTWG201 UNEP GenevaSwitzerland 2002

[14] A Smaniotto A Antunes I D N Filho et al ldquoQualitativelead extraction from recycled lead-acid batteries slagrdquo Journalof Hazardous Materials vol 172 no 2-3 pp 1677ndash1680 2009

[15] M D Royer A Selvakumar and R Gaire ldquoControl technolo-gies for remediation of contaminated soil and waste depositsat super fund lead battery recycling sitesrdquo Journal of the Air ampWasteManagement Association vol 42 no 7 pp 970ndash980 1992

[16] J Swearingen and K Saltonstall Phragmites Field GuideDistinguishing Native and Exotic Forms of Common Reed(Phragmites australis) in the United States Plant ConservationAlliance Weeds Gone Wild 2010 httpwwwnpsgovplantsalienpubsindexhtm

[17] P Li W Han N Thevs et al ldquoA comparison of the functionaltraits of common reed (Phragmites australis) in NorthernChina aquatic versus terrestrial ecotypesrdquo PLoSONE vol 9 no2 Article ID e89063 2014

[18] C L Gucker Phragmites australis in Fire Effects InformationSystem US Department of Agriculture Forest Service RockyMountain Research Station Fire Sciences Laboratory 2008httpwwwfsfedusdatabasefeis

[19] F Ghassemzadeh H Yousefzadeh and M H Arbab-ZavarldquoRemoving arsenic and antimony by Phragmites australisrhizofiltration technologyrdquo Journal of Applied Sciences vol 8no 9 pp 1668ndash1675 2008

[20] N A Anjum I Ahmad M Valega et al ldquoSalt marsh macro-phyte Phragmites australis strategies assessment for its domi-nance in mercury-contaminated coastal lagoon (Ria de AveiroPortugal)rdquo Environmental Science and Pollution Research vol19 no 7 pp 2879ndash2888 2012

[21] E Grisey X Laffray O Contoz E Cavalli J Mudry and LAleya ldquoThe bioaccumulation performance of reeds and cattailsin a constructed treatment wetland for removal of heavy metalsin landfill leachate treatment (Etueffont France)rdquoWater Air ampSoil Pollution vol 223 no 4 pp 1723ndash1741 2012

[22] J Gotosa K Nezandonyi A Kanda S M Mushiri A Kuh-lande and T Nyamugure ldquoEffects of irrigating Eucalyptusgrandis plantations with a mixture of domestic and pulpand paper mill effluent on soil quality at a site in northern

4 Applied and Environmental Soil Science

LSD post hoc test All tests were considered significant at119901 lt 005 A paired sample 119905-test was used to compare theconcentrations of Pb and Sb in the growth media beforeplanting and 16 weeks after planting

3 Results and Discussion

31 Physicochemical Properties of Growth Media Elementrecovery studies of a CRM gave 958 (8143 plusmn 173mgkg)and satisfactory RSD (212) for total Pb Limits of detection(LODs) were 0001mgL (010mgkg) for Pb and 0003mgL(03mgkg) for Sb Mean concentrations of Pb and Sb in 10rhizomes before planting for the three treatments were lessthan the LOD Table 1 shows the physicochemical parametersof the growth media before and after 16 weeks of plantingP australis in three soil treatments (NR RS and RF) Soilwith recycled slag (RS) generally had significantly higherclay content and pH but lower organic matter (OM) andnutrients (NO3

minus PO43minus) than soil with nonrecycled slag

(NR) before and after 16 weeks of planting P australis (119901 lt005) The concentrations of Pb and Sb in the soil treatmentsdecreased in the order NRS gt RS gt RF After 16 weeks ofplanting the concentrations of NO3

minus (NRS and RS) and OM(RF) were significantly lower than their initial values beforeplanting (119905-test 119901 lt 005) Not significantly different initialand final soil parameters after 16 weeks could be explainedby the absence of rainfall events during the study period(except for occasional initial watering) which could promoteleaching overall insignificant element uptake by P australis(for Sb) and additive effects of atmospheric deposition fromthe adjacent LAB recycling processes However leaching ofSb and Pb could not be excluded through watering but toa lesser extent as the two elements are strongly bound bysoil clay minerals and organic matter [1] High pH of slagsoil treatments (107ndash121) may not favor mineralization of Pband Sb The observed significant decrease in soil Sb after 16weeks inNRcould be attributed to plant uptake leaching andother soil biochemical processes There were no significantdifferences in the concentrations of Pb before planting and16 weeks after planting of P australis for both NRS and RStreatments (119901 gt 005)

US EPA [5] reported 80000mgkg Pb at LAB recyclingsites Soil that was 60m away from an abandoned batterywaste site had 41890mgkg Pb [30] At another abandonedscrap deposit site soil had 104000mgkg Pb [24]This showsthat LAB wastes are a very important route for the releaseof trace elements into the environment People living nearor working at sources of Sb and Pb such as smelters coalfired plants and refuse incinerators may be exposed to toxicelements in dust soil and vegetation A study of the exposureof residents and children living in a battery recycling craftvillage in Vietnam showed Pb-contaminated hair bloodand urine [31] Similar observations of increased blood Pblevels were made in another study at a LAB recycling andmanufacturing plant in Kenya [32] Recycling processes maynot be very efficient in recovering metals Slag from recyclingLABs still contains up to 5 Pb [13 14] Other than directdisposal of slag on the dumpsite toxic elementsmay be addedto the soil surface by atmospheric deposition of fugitive dust

and drainage or leachate from waste heaps Soil naturallycontains trace Sb at concentrations of less than 1mgkg(average 048mgkg) but values of 109ndash2550mgkg Sb fromprocessing sites were reported [3] An average backgroundconcentration of 067mgkg Sb was also reported [1]

Clay mineral content organic matter phosphorus andmoisture content of a soil are very important parameters thatinfluence the bioavailability and uptake of trace elements byplants [1 2 33] Results from the current study clearly showthat soil at the LAB dumpsite was contaminated with Sb andPb Exposed populationsmay be encouraged to have Pb levelsin their blood hair and urine monitored for possible adversehealth effects

32 Concentrations of Sb and Pb in Plant Parts of P australisTable 2 shows the concentrations of Sb and Pb in plantparts of P australis grown in three different soil treatments(NR RS and RF) after 8 and 16 weeks of planting Therecycled slag treatment (RS) had lower concentrations of Pband Sb for roots than the nonrecycled slag soil treatment(NR) (119901 lt 005) No significant differences were observedfor the concentrations of both elements between NR andRS treatments for leaves and stems after 8 and 16 weeks ofplanting P australis (119901 gt 005) A paired 119905-test to compareelemental concentrations within a soil treatment between 8-and 16-week growth periods showed significant differences(119901 lt 005) for Pb and Sb in roots (NR and RS) onlyBoth metals were not detected in all plant parts from theRF treatment Concentrations of Pb and Sb decreased in theorder root gt leaf gt stem for NR and RS treatments Resultssuggest that Pb and Sb were coming from LAB slag

Table 3 shows that the Biological Absorption Factor(BAF) and Translocation Factor (TF) were less than unity forelement transfer These indicate that after 8 and 16 weeks ofplanting P australis poorly accumulate Pb and Sb into rootsand poorly translocate them to leaves Plant roots appeared totake up more Sb than Pb in both NR and RS soil treatmentsafter harvesting at 16 weeks Phragmites australis appeared totake up more Pb after 16 weeks (33-fold) and Sb (55-fold) inthe NR soil treatment and more Pb (5-fold) and Sb (45-fold)in the RS soil treatment than it did after 8 weeks of growth

The above-ground below-ground concentration ratios ofSb and Pb were very small (less than 015) in NR and RSsoil treatments This may suggest that the common reed (Paustralis) is poor for phytoextraction of Pb and Sb fromcontaminated soil A translocation factor well above oneindicates a possible candidate for phytoextraction [10] Inits various remediation applications in contaminated aquaticecosystems P australis showed that it is a poor phytoextractorof Pb and Sb but good for phytorhizofiltration [19 34 35]One drawback in this field experimental setup and thusphytoremediation of trace elements from contaminated soilis the failure to control leaching of trace elements Particulatefallout and foliar absorption of Pb cannot be excluded inthis study since the element has been reported to be poorlytranslocated to leaves [1] yet Pb and Sb were recorded inappreciable amounts in the current study Establishment ofvegetation in an area where all native plants were destroyedwas fascinatingThis development may help filter and reduce

Applied and Environmental Soil Science 5

Table1Ph

ysicochemicalcharacteris

ticso

fthree

soiltre

atmentsreplicated

threetim

es(non

recycle

dsla

grecycle

dsla

gandreference)ataL

ABdu

mpsite

inNortonZimbabw

eParameters

wered

etermined

before

plantin

gand16

weeks

after

plantin

gof

Pau

stralis

Values

aree

xpressed

asmeanplusmnSD

oftriplicatem

easurements

Soilparameter

Before

plantin

g16

weeks

after

plantin

gNon

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oil

Non

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oil

Clay

633plusmn15

31233plusmn15

31867plusmn252

767plusmn16

31063plusmn16

42160plusmn295

Silt

5400plusmn265

6100plusmn400

3400plusmn300

5510plusmn392

5977plusmn15

33460plusmn040

Fine

sand

3967plusmn15

32667plusmn252

4733plusmn058

3723plusmn452

2960plusmn291

4380plusmn317

Moistu

recontent(g)

453plusmn022

676plusmn004

1280plusmn030

mdashmdash

mdashpH

(H2O)

1090plusmn036

1210plusmn020lowast

723plusmn006

1070plusmn010

1093plusmn015lowast

717plusmn006

PO43minus(m

gkg)

085plusmn012

050plusmn002lowast

145plusmn003

074plusmn009

058plusmn003lowast

137plusmn017

NO3minus(m

gkg)

061plusmn004lowast

ND

137plusmn005

055plusmn007lowast

ND

130plusmn008

EC(120583Scm

)14450plusmn1208

8580plusmn835

4103plusmn444

15217plusmn892

10840plusmn1659

3867plusmn18

2Organicmatter()

093plusmn006

031plusmn003

311plusmn018lowast

087plusmn009

038plusmn003

357plusmn005lowast

TotalP

b(m

gkg)

48840plusmn400

02710

3plusmn3869

051plusmn005

43860plusmn70

6623380plusmn2495

ND

TotalSb(m

gkg)

346

0plusmn64

5lowast2583plusmn523

ND

2343plusmn531lowast

2163plusmn172

ND

AvailableP

b(m

gkg)

27841plusmn2050

1115

4plusmn581

mdash23008plusmn4233

9534plusmn3416

mdashAv

ailableS

b(m

gkgl)

8631plusmn1308lowast

6483plusmn832lowast

mdash4968plusmn1636lowast

4254plusmn824lowast

mdashNDn

otdetected

(below

LOD)mdash

(dash)p

aram

eter

notd

eterminedA

llparametersw

eresig

nificantly

different

acrossthethreetre

atmentsbefore

plantin

g(119901lt005)lowastParameterssignificantly

different

before

plantin

gandaft

erplantin

gof

Pau

stralisfora

givensoiltre

atment(paire

d119905-test119901lt005)

6 Applied and Environmental Soil Science

Table2Con

centratio

nsof

PbandSb

intissues

ofPau

stralisharvestedfro

mdifferent

soiltre

atmentsaft

er8and16

weeks

ofplantin

gVa

lues

areexpressedas

meanplusmnSD

oftriplicate

measurementsin

mgkgD

W

Elem

ent

Growth

perio

d(w

ks)

Non

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oiltreatment

Root

Leaf

Stem

Root

Leaf

Stem

Root

Leaf

Stem

Pb8

13657plusmn1891alowast

877plusmn090

a288plusmn027

a9890plusmn1276

blowast78

3plusmn174a

263plusmn030

aND

ND

ND

16590plusmn36

alowast861plusmn10

4a276plusmn038

a46

667plusmn2517

blowast804plusmn023

a296plusmn012

aND

ND

ND

Sb8

6783plusmn99

7alowast

333plusmn036

a14

5plusmn19

1a4784plusmn386

blowast289plusmn019

a15

6plusmn023

aND

ND

ND

16260plusmn20

alowast347plusmn032

a17

3plusmn0171a

205plusmn18

blowast294plusmn021

a15

0plusmn016

aND

ND

ND

NDn

otdetected

(ltLO

D)Differentsup

erscrip

ts(ab)inarowdeno

tesig

nificantly

different

concentrations

(119901lt005)o

fagivenele

mentfor

aplanttissue

acrosstre

atmentslowastin

acolumndeno

tessignificantly

different

concentrations

(paired119905-test119901lt005)for

agiven

elem

entfor

aspecific

planttiss

uebetween8-

and16-w

eekgrow

thperio

dswith

inas

oiltreatment

Applied and Environmental Soil Science 7

Table3Bioaccum

ulationandtranslo

catio

nfactorso

fPbandSb

forP

austra

lisin

different

soiltre

atmentsaft

er8and16

weeks

ofplantin

g

Elem

ent

Growth

perio

d(w

ks)

Non

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oiltreatment

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

Pb8

0003

006

009

000

4008

011

mdashmdash

mdash16

001

001

002

002

002

002

mdashmdash

mdash

Sb8

002

005

007

002

006

009

mdashmdash

mdash16

011

001

002

009

001

002

mdashmdash

mdash[E]rcon

centratio

nof

thee

lementinrootso

fplant[E]sconcentrationof

thee

lementinsoilon

which

thep

lant

isgrow

ing[E]l

concentrationof

thee

lementinleaves

ofplant[E]stconcentrationof

thee

lement

inthes

tem

ofplant

8 Applied and Environmental Soil Science

surface runoff laden with contaminants It will be interestingto find out the nature of other plants that would be establishedon the site with time and how P australismay take up Pb andSb

4 Conclusions

Contamination of soil with LAB recycling wastes and poten-tial early uptake of Pb and Sb by P australis after 8 and16 weeks of planting were studied at a dumpsite Slag andLAB recycling processes introduced large quantities of Pband Sb into soil altered soil characteristics and destroyedindigenous vegetation Soil with recycled slag had lowernutrient (NO3

minus PO43minus) content OM and trace elements (Pb

Sb) than soil with nonrecycled slag Uptake of Pb and Sb byroots of P australis appeared to increase over time althoughthe poor accumulation in leaves and stems appeared toremain constantThe NR soil treatment appeared to promoteroot uptake of Sb compared to Pb Phragmites australis poorlyaccumulates Pb and Sb into roots and poorly translocatesthem to leaves and thus it is a poor candidate speciesfor phytoextraction in contaminated field soil conditionsHowever its ability to be established on a site where allvegetation had been destroyed could further be explored asa starting point for ecological restoration Accumulation ofPb and Sb by P australis in the long term and possibilitiesof whether other plant species would get established onthis site may need further studies Based on findings andresults obtained in the current study the authors recommendbiological monitoring of Pb in urine hair and blood samplesfor LAB recyclingworkers and populations residing near LABsmelters and dumpsites

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding the publication of this article

References

[1] A Kabata-Pendias Trace Elements in Soils and Plants Taylorand Francis New York NY USA 4th edition 2011

[2] A Kabata-Pendias ldquoSoil-plant transfer of trace elementsmdashanenvironmental issuerdquo Geoderma vol 122 no 2ndash4 pp 143ndash1492004

[3] Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)Toxicological Profile for Antimony and Compounds US PublicHealth Service Washington DC USA 1992

[4] Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)Toxicological Profile for Lead US Public Health Service Wash-ington DC USA 2007

[5] US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) ldquoInnovativetreatment technologies semi-annual status reportrdquo EPA5402-91014 US EPA Washington DC USA 1991

[6] C J Rhodes ldquoApplications of bioremediation and phytoreme-diationrdquo Science Progress vol 96 no 4 pp 417ndash427 2013

[7] H Ali E Khan and M A Sajad ldquoPhytoremediation of heavymetalsmdashconcepts and applicationsrdquo Chemosphere vol 91 no 7pp 869ndash881 2013

[8] M M Lasat ldquoPhytoextraction of toxic metals a review ofbiological mechanismsrdquo Journal of Environmental Quality vol31 no 1 pp 109ndash120 2002

[9] N Marmiroli M Marmiroli and E Maesti ldquoPhytoremediationand phytotechnologies a review for the present and the futurerdquoin Soil and Water pollution Monitoring Protection and Remedi-ation I Twardowska et al Ed pp 403ndash416 Springer BerlinGermany 2006

[10] M Mench N Lepp V Bert et al ldquoSuccesses and limitationsof phytotechnologies at field scale outcomes assessment andoutlook fromCOSTAction 859rdquo Journal of Soils and Sedimentsvol 10 no 6 pp 1039ndash1070 2010

[11] P Sharma and S Pandey ldquoStatus of phytoremediation in worldscenariordquo International Journal of Environmental Bioremedia-tion and Biodegradation vol 2 no 4 pp 178ndash191 2014

[12] N Shabani and M H Sayadi ldquoEvaluation of heavy metalsaccumulation by two emergent macrophytes from the pollutedsoil an experimental studyrdquo Environmentalist vol 32 no 1 pp91ndash98 2012

[13] United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) ldquoTechnicalguidelines for the environmentally sound management of lead-acid battery wastesrdquo UNEPCHWTWG201 UNEP GenevaSwitzerland 2002

[14] A Smaniotto A Antunes I D N Filho et al ldquoQualitativelead extraction from recycled lead-acid batteries slagrdquo Journalof Hazardous Materials vol 172 no 2-3 pp 1677ndash1680 2009

[15] M D Royer A Selvakumar and R Gaire ldquoControl technolo-gies for remediation of contaminated soil and waste depositsat super fund lead battery recycling sitesrdquo Journal of the Air ampWasteManagement Association vol 42 no 7 pp 970ndash980 1992

[16] J Swearingen and K Saltonstall Phragmites Field GuideDistinguishing Native and Exotic Forms of Common Reed(Phragmites australis) in the United States Plant ConservationAlliance Weeds Gone Wild 2010 httpwwwnpsgovplantsalienpubsindexhtm

[17] P Li W Han N Thevs et al ldquoA comparison of the functionaltraits of common reed (Phragmites australis) in NorthernChina aquatic versus terrestrial ecotypesrdquo PLoSONE vol 9 no2 Article ID e89063 2014

[18] C L Gucker Phragmites australis in Fire Effects InformationSystem US Department of Agriculture Forest Service RockyMountain Research Station Fire Sciences Laboratory 2008httpwwwfsfedusdatabasefeis

[19] F Ghassemzadeh H Yousefzadeh and M H Arbab-ZavarldquoRemoving arsenic and antimony by Phragmites australisrhizofiltration technologyrdquo Journal of Applied Sciences vol 8no 9 pp 1668ndash1675 2008

[20] N A Anjum I Ahmad M Valega et al ldquoSalt marsh macro-phyte Phragmites australis strategies assessment for its domi-nance in mercury-contaminated coastal lagoon (Ria de AveiroPortugal)rdquo Environmental Science and Pollution Research vol19 no 7 pp 2879ndash2888 2012

[21] E Grisey X Laffray O Contoz E Cavalli J Mudry and LAleya ldquoThe bioaccumulation performance of reeds and cattailsin a constructed treatment wetland for removal of heavy metalsin landfill leachate treatment (Etueffont France)rdquoWater Air ampSoil Pollution vol 223 no 4 pp 1723ndash1741 2012

[22] J Gotosa K Nezandonyi A Kanda S M Mushiri A Kuh-lande and T Nyamugure ldquoEffects of irrigating Eucalyptusgrandis plantations with a mixture of domestic and pulpand paper mill effluent on soil quality at a site in northern

Applied and Environmental Soil Science 5

Table1Ph

ysicochemicalcharacteris

ticso

fthree

soiltre

atmentsreplicated

threetim

es(non

recycle

dsla

grecycle

dsla

gandreference)ataL

ABdu

mpsite

inNortonZimbabw

eParameters

wered

etermined

before

plantin

gand16

weeks

after

plantin

gof

Pau

stralis

Values

aree

xpressed

asmeanplusmnSD

oftriplicatem

easurements

Soilparameter

Before

plantin

g16

weeks

after

plantin

gNon

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oil

Non

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oil

Clay

633plusmn15

31233plusmn15

31867plusmn252

767plusmn16

31063plusmn16

42160plusmn295

Silt

5400plusmn265

6100plusmn400

3400plusmn300

5510plusmn392

5977plusmn15

33460plusmn040

Fine

sand

3967plusmn15

32667plusmn252

4733plusmn058

3723plusmn452

2960plusmn291

4380plusmn317

Moistu

recontent(g)

453plusmn022

676plusmn004

1280plusmn030

mdashmdash

mdashpH

(H2O)

1090plusmn036

1210plusmn020lowast

723plusmn006

1070plusmn010

1093plusmn015lowast

717plusmn006

PO43minus(m

gkg)

085plusmn012

050plusmn002lowast

145plusmn003

074plusmn009

058plusmn003lowast

137plusmn017

NO3minus(m

gkg)

061plusmn004lowast

ND

137plusmn005

055plusmn007lowast

ND

130plusmn008

EC(120583Scm

)14450plusmn1208

8580plusmn835

4103plusmn444

15217plusmn892

10840plusmn1659

3867plusmn18

2Organicmatter()

093plusmn006

031plusmn003

311plusmn018lowast

087plusmn009

038plusmn003

357plusmn005lowast

TotalP

b(m

gkg)

48840plusmn400

02710

3plusmn3869

051plusmn005

43860plusmn70

6623380plusmn2495

ND

TotalSb(m

gkg)

346

0plusmn64

5lowast2583plusmn523

ND

2343plusmn531lowast

2163plusmn172

ND

AvailableP

b(m

gkg)

27841plusmn2050

1115

4plusmn581

mdash23008plusmn4233

9534plusmn3416

mdashAv

ailableS

b(m

gkgl)

8631plusmn1308lowast

6483plusmn832lowast

mdash4968plusmn1636lowast

4254plusmn824lowast

mdashNDn

otdetected

(below

LOD)mdash

(dash)p

aram

eter

notd

eterminedA

llparametersw

eresig

nificantly

different

acrossthethreetre

atmentsbefore

plantin

g(119901lt005)lowastParameterssignificantly

different

before

plantin

gandaft

erplantin

gof

Pau

stralisfora

givensoiltre

atment(paire

d119905-test119901lt005)

6 Applied and Environmental Soil Science

Table2Con

centratio

nsof

PbandSb

intissues

ofPau

stralisharvestedfro

mdifferent

soiltre

atmentsaft

er8and16

weeks

ofplantin

gVa

lues

areexpressedas

meanplusmnSD

oftriplicate

measurementsin

mgkgD

W

Elem

ent

Growth

perio

d(w

ks)

Non

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oiltreatment

Root

Leaf

Stem

Root

Leaf

Stem

Root

Leaf

Stem

Pb8

13657plusmn1891alowast

877plusmn090

a288plusmn027

a9890plusmn1276

blowast78

3plusmn174a

263plusmn030

aND

ND

ND

16590plusmn36

alowast861plusmn10

4a276plusmn038

a46

667plusmn2517

blowast804plusmn023

a296plusmn012

aND

ND

ND

Sb8

6783plusmn99

7alowast

333plusmn036

a14

5plusmn19

1a4784plusmn386

blowast289plusmn019

a15

6plusmn023

aND

ND

ND

16260plusmn20

alowast347plusmn032

a17

3plusmn0171a

205plusmn18

blowast294plusmn021

a15

0plusmn016

aND

ND

ND

NDn

otdetected

(ltLO

D)Differentsup

erscrip

ts(ab)inarowdeno

tesig

nificantly

different

concentrations

(119901lt005)o

fagivenele

mentfor

aplanttissue

acrosstre

atmentslowastin

acolumndeno

tessignificantly

different

concentrations

(paired119905-test119901lt005)for

agiven

elem

entfor

aspecific

planttiss

uebetween8-

and16-w

eekgrow

thperio

dswith

inas

oiltreatment

Applied and Environmental Soil Science 7

Table3Bioaccum

ulationandtranslo

catio

nfactorso

fPbandSb

forP

austra

lisin

different

soiltre

atmentsaft

er8and16

weeks

ofplantin

g

Elem

ent

Growth

perio

d(w

ks)

Non

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oiltreatment

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

Pb8

0003

006

009

000

4008

011

mdashmdash

mdash16

001

001

002

002

002

002

mdashmdash

mdash

Sb8

002

005

007

002

006

009

mdashmdash

mdash16

011

001

002

009

001

002

mdashmdash

mdash[E]rcon

centratio

nof

thee

lementinrootso

fplant[E]sconcentrationof

thee

lementinsoilon

which

thep

lant

isgrow

ing[E]l

concentrationof

thee

lementinleaves

ofplant[E]stconcentrationof

thee

lement

inthes

tem

ofplant

8 Applied and Environmental Soil Science

surface runoff laden with contaminants It will be interestingto find out the nature of other plants that would be establishedon the site with time and how P australismay take up Pb andSb

4 Conclusions

Contamination of soil with LAB recycling wastes and poten-tial early uptake of Pb and Sb by P australis after 8 and16 weeks of planting were studied at a dumpsite Slag andLAB recycling processes introduced large quantities of Pband Sb into soil altered soil characteristics and destroyedindigenous vegetation Soil with recycled slag had lowernutrient (NO3

minus PO43minus) content OM and trace elements (Pb

Sb) than soil with nonrecycled slag Uptake of Pb and Sb byroots of P australis appeared to increase over time althoughthe poor accumulation in leaves and stems appeared toremain constantThe NR soil treatment appeared to promoteroot uptake of Sb compared to Pb Phragmites australis poorlyaccumulates Pb and Sb into roots and poorly translocatesthem to leaves and thus it is a poor candidate speciesfor phytoextraction in contaminated field soil conditionsHowever its ability to be established on a site where allvegetation had been destroyed could further be explored asa starting point for ecological restoration Accumulation ofPb and Sb by P australis in the long term and possibilitiesof whether other plant species would get established onthis site may need further studies Based on findings andresults obtained in the current study the authors recommendbiological monitoring of Pb in urine hair and blood samplesfor LAB recyclingworkers and populations residing near LABsmelters and dumpsites

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding the publication of this article

References

[1] A Kabata-Pendias Trace Elements in Soils and Plants Taylorand Francis New York NY USA 4th edition 2011

[2] A Kabata-Pendias ldquoSoil-plant transfer of trace elementsmdashanenvironmental issuerdquo Geoderma vol 122 no 2ndash4 pp 143ndash1492004

[3] Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)Toxicological Profile for Antimony and Compounds US PublicHealth Service Washington DC USA 1992

[4] Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)Toxicological Profile for Lead US Public Health Service Wash-ington DC USA 2007

[5] US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) ldquoInnovativetreatment technologies semi-annual status reportrdquo EPA5402-91014 US EPA Washington DC USA 1991

[6] C J Rhodes ldquoApplications of bioremediation and phytoreme-diationrdquo Science Progress vol 96 no 4 pp 417ndash427 2013

[7] H Ali E Khan and M A Sajad ldquoPhytoremediation of heavymetalsmdashconcepts and applicationsrdquo Chemosphere vol 91 no 7pp 869ndash881 2013

[8] M M Lasat ldquoPhytoextraction of toxic metals a review ofbiological mechanismsrdquo Journal of Environmental Quality vol31 no 1 pp 109ndash120 2002

[9] N Marmiroli M Marmiroli and E Maesti ldquoPhytoremediationand phytotechnologies a review for the present and the futurerdquoin Soil and Water pollution Monitoring Protection and Remedi-ation I Twardowska et al Ed pp 403ndash416 Springer BerlinGermany 2006

[10] M Mench N Lepp V Bert et al ldquoSuccesses and limitationsof phytotechnologies at field scale outcomes assessment andoutlook fromCOSTAction 859rdquo Journal of Soils and Sedimentsvol 10 no 6 pp 1039ndash1070 2010

[11] P Sharma and S Pandey ldquoStatus of phytoremediation in worldscenariordquo International Journal of Environmental Bioremedia-tion and Biodegradation vol 2 no 4 pp 178ndash191 2014

[12] N Shabani and M H Sayadi ldquoEvaluation of heavy metalsaccumulation by two emergent macrophytes from the pollutedsoil an experimental studyrdquo Environmentalist vol 32 no 1 pp91ndash98 2012

[13] United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) ldquoTechnicalguidelines for the environmentally sound management of lead-acid battery wastesrdquo UNEPCHWTWG201 UNEP GenevaSwitzerland 2002

[14] A Smaniotto A Antunes I D N Filho et al ldquoQualitativelead extraction from recycled lead-acid batteries slagrdquo Journalof Hazardous Materials vol 172 no 2-3 pp 1677ndash1680 2009

[15] M D Royer A Selvakumar and R Gaire ldquoControl technolo-gies for remediation of contaminated soil and waste depositsat super fund lead battery recycling sitesrdquo Journal of the Air ampWasteManagement Association vol 42 no 7 pp 970ndash980 1992

[16] J Swearingen and K Saltonstall Phragmites Field GuideDistinguishing Native and Exotic Forms of Common Reed(Phragmites australis) in the United States Plant ConservationAlliance Weeds Gone Wild 2010 httpwwwnpsgovplantsalienpubsindexhtm

[17] P Li W Han N Thevs et al ldquoA comparison of the functionaltraits of common reed (Phragmites australis) in NorthernChina aquatic versus terrestrial ecotypesrdquo PLoSONE vol 9 no2 Article ID e89063 2014

[18] C L Gucker Phragmites australis in Fire Effects InformationSystem US Department of Agriculture Forest Service RockyMountain Research Station Fire Sciences Laboratory 2008httpwwwfsfedusdatabasefeis

[19] F Ghassemzadeh H Yousefzadeh and M H Arbab-ZavarldquoRemoving arsenic and antimony by Phragmites australisrhizofiltration technologyrdquo Journal of Applied Sciences vol 8no 9 pp 1668ndash1675 2008

[20] N A Anjum I Ahmad M Valega et al ldquoSalt marsh macro-phyte Phragmites australis strategies assessment for its domi-nance in mercury-contaminated coastal lagoon (Ria de AveiroPortugal)rdquo Environmental Science and Pollution Research vol19 no 7 pp 2879ndash2888 2012

[21] E Grisey X Laffray O Contoz E Cavalli J Mudry and LAleya ldquoThe bioaccumulation performance of reeds and cattailsin a constructed treatment wetland for removal of heavy metalsin landfill leachate treatment (Etueffont France)rdquoWater Air ampSoil Pollution vol 223 no 4 pp 1723ndash1741 2012

[22] J Gotosa K Nezandonyi A Kanda S M Mushiri A Kuh-lande and T Nyamugure ldquoEffects of irrigating Eucalyptusgrandis plantations with a mixture of domestic and pulpand paper mill effluent on soil quality at a site in northern

6 Applied and Environmental Soil Science

Table2Con

centratio

nsof

PbandSb

intissues

ofPau

stralisharvestedfro

mdifferent

soiltre

atmentsaft

er8and16

weeks

ofplantin

gVa

lues

areexpressedas

meanplusmnSD

oftriplicate

measurementsin

mgkgD

W

Elem

ent

Growth

perio

d(w

ks)

Non

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oiltreatment

Root

Leaf

Stem

Root

Leaf

Stem

Root

Leaf

Stem

Pb8

13657plusmn1891alowast

877plusmn090

a288plusmn027

a9890plusmn1276

blowast78

3plusmn174a

263plusmn030

aND

ND

ND

16590plusmn36

alowast861plusmn10

4a276plusmn038

a46

667plusmn2517

blowast804plusmn023

a296plusmn012

aND

ND

ND

Sb8

6783plusmn99

7alowast

333plusmn036

a14

5plusmn19

1a4784plusmn386

blowast289plusmn019

a15

6plusmn023

aND

ND

ND

16260plusmn20

alowast347plusmn032

a17

3plusmn0171a

205plusmn18

blowast294plusmn021

a15

0plusmn016

aND

ND

ND

NDn

otdetected

(ltLO

D)Differentsup

erscrip

ts(ab)inarowdeno

tesig

nificantly

different

concentrations

(119901lt005)o

fagivenele

mentfor

aplanttissue

acrosstre

atmentslowastin

acolumndeno

tessignificantly

different

concentrations

(paired119905-test119901lt005)for

agiven

elem

entfor

aspecific

planttiss

uebetween8-

and16-w

eekgrow

thperio

dswith

inas

oiltreatment

Applied and Environmental Soil Science 7

Table3Bioaccum

ulationandtranslo

catio

nfactorso

fPbandSb

forP

austra

lisin

different

soiltre

atmentsaft

er8and16

weeks

ofplantin

g

Elem

ent

Growth

perio

d(w

ks)

Non

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oiltreatment

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

Pb8

0003

006

009

000

4008

011

mdashmdash

mdash16

001

001

002

002

002

002

mdashmdash

mdash

Sb8

002

005

007

002

006

009

mdashmdash

mdash16

011

001

002

009

001

002

mdashmdash

mdash[E]rcon

centratio

nof

thee

lementinrootso

fplant[E]sconcentrationof

thee

lementinsoilon

which

thep

lant

isgrow

ing[E]l

concentrationof

thee

lementinleaves

ofplant[E]stconcentrationof

thee

lement

inthes

tem

ofplant

8 Applied and Environmental Soil Science

surface runoff laden with contaminants It will be interestingto find out the nature of other plants that would be establishedon the site with time and how P australismay take up Pb andSb

4 Conclusions

Contamination of soil with LAB recycling wastes and poten-tial early uptake of Pb and Sb by P australis after 8 and16 weeks of planting were studied at a dumpsite Slag andLAB recycling processes introduced large quantities of Pband Sb into soil altered soil characteristics and destroyedindigenous vegetation Soil with recycled slag had lowernutrient (NO3

minus PO43minus) content OM and trace elements (Pb

Sb) than soil with nonrecycled slag Uptake of Pb and Sb byroots of P australis appeared to increase over time althoughthe poor accumulation in leaves and stems appeared toremain constantThe NR soil treatment appeared to promoteroot uptake of Sb compared to Pb Phragmites australis poorlyaccumulates Pb and Sb into roots and poorly translocatesthem to leaves and thus it is a poor candidate speciesfor phytoextraction in contaminated field soil conditionsHowever its ability to be established on a site where allvegetation had been destroyed could further be explored asa starting point for ecological restoration Accumulation ofPb and Sb by P australis in the long term and possibilitiesof whether other plant species would get established onthis site may need further studies Based on findings andresults obtained in the current study the authors recommendbiological monitoring of Pb in urine hair and blood samplesfor LAB recyclingworkers and populations residing near LABsmelters and dumpsites

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding the publication of this article

References

[1] A Kabata-Pendias Trace Elements in Soils and Plants Taylorand Francis New York NY USA 4th edition 2011

[2] A Kabata-Pendias ldquoSoil-plant transfer of trace elementsmdashanenvironmental issuerdquo Geoderma vol 122 no 2ndash4 pp 143ndash1492004

[3] Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)Toxicological Profile for Antimony and Compounds US PublicHealth Service Washington DC USA 1992

[4] Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)Toxicological Profile for Lead US Public Health Service Wash-ington DC USA 2007

[5] US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) ldquoInnovativetreatment technologies semi-annual status reportrdquo EPA5402-91014 US EPA Washington DC USA 1991

[6] C J Rhodes ldquoApplications of bioremediation and phytoreme-diationrdquo Science Progress vol 96 no 4 pp 417ndash427 2013

[7] H Ali E Khan and M A Sajad ldquoPhytoremediation of heavymetalsmdashconcepts and applicationsrdquo Chemosphere vol 91 no 7pp 869ndash881 2013

[8] M M Lasat ldquoPhytoextraction of toxic metals a review ofbiological mechanismsrdquo Journal of Environmental Quality vol31 no 1 pp 109ndash120 2002

[9] N Marmiroli M Marmiroli and E Maesti ldquoPhytoremediationand phytotechnologies a review for the present and the futurerdquoin Soil and Water pollution Monitoring Protection and Remedi-ation I Twardowska et al Ed pp 403ndash416 Springer BerlinGermany 2006

[10] M Mench N Lepp V Bert et al ldquoSuccesses and limitationsof phytotechnologies at field scale outcomes assessment andoutlook fromCOSTAction 859rdquo Journal of Soils and Sedimentsvol 10 no 6 pp 1039ndash1070 2010

[11] P Sharma and S Pandey ldquoStatus of phytoremediation in worldscenariordquo International Journal of Environmental Bioremedia-tion and Biodegradation vol 2 no 4 pp 178ndash191 2014

[12] N Shabani and M H Sayadi ldquoEvaluation of heavy metalsaccumulation by two emergent macrophytes from the pollutedsoil an experimental studyrdquo Environmentalist vol 32 no 1 pp91ndash98 2012

[13] United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) ldquoTechnicalguidelines for the environmentally sound management of lead-acid battery wastesrdquo UNEPCHWTWG201 UNEP GenevaSwitzerland 2002

[14] A Smaniotto A Antunes I D N Filho et al ldquoQualitativelead extraction from recycled lead-acid batteries slagrdquo Journalof Hazardous Materials vol 172 no 2-3 pp 1677ndash1680 2009

[15] M D Royer A Selvakumar and R Gaire ldquoControl technolo-gies for remediation of contaminated soil and waste depositsat super fund lead battery recycling sitesrdquo Journal of the Air ampWasteManagement Association vol 42 no 7 pp 970ndash980 1992

[16] J Swearingen and K Saltonstall Phragmites Field GuideDistinguishing Native and Exotic Forms of Common Reed(Phragmites australis) in the United States Plant ConservationAlliance Weeds Gone Wild 2010 httpwwwnpsgovplantsalienpubsindexhtm

[17] P Li W Han N Thevs et al ldquoA comparison of the functionaltraits of common reed (Phragmites australis) in NorthernChina aquatic versus terrestrial ecotypesrdquo PLoSONE vol 9 no2 Article ID e89063 2014

[18] C L Gucker Phragmites australis in Fire Effects InformationSystem US Department of Agriculture Forest Service RockyMountain Research Station Fire Sciences Laboratory 2008httpwwwfsfedusdatabasefeis

[19] F Ghassemzadeh H Yousefzadeh and M H Arbab-ZavarldquoRemoving arsenic and antimony by Phragmites australisrhizofiltration technologyrdquo Journal of Applied Sciences vol 8no 9 pp 1668ndash1675 2008

[20] N A Anjum I Ahmad M Valega et al ldquoSalt marsh macro-phyte Phragmites australis strategies assessment for its domi-nance in mercury-contaminated coastal lagoon (Ria de AveiroPortugal)rdquo Environmental Science and Pollution Research vol19 no 7 pp 2879ndash2888 2012

[21] E Grisey X Laffray O Contoz E Cavalli J Mudry and LAleya ldquoThe bioaccumulation performance of reeds and cattailsin a constructed treatment wetland for removal of heavy metalsin landfill leachate treatment (Etueffont France)rdquoWater Air ampSoil Pollution vol 223 no 4 pp 1723ndash1741 2012

[22] J Gotosa K Nezandonyi A Kanda S M Mushiri A Kuh-lande and T Nyamugure ldquoEffects of irrigating Eucalyptusgrandis plantations with a mixture of domestic and pulpand paper mill effluent on soil quality at a site in northern

Applied and Environmental Soil Science 7

Table3Bioaccum

ulationandtranslo

catio

nfactorso

fPbandSb

forP

austra

lisin

different

soiltre

atmentsaft

er8and16

weeks

ofplantin

g

Elem

ent

Growth

perio

d(w

ks)

Non

recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

Recycle

dsla

gtre

atment

References

oiltreatment

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

[E]r[E]s

[E]l[E]r

([E]l+

[E]st)[E]r

Pb8

0003

006

009

000

4008

011

mdashmdash

mdash16

001

001

002

002

002

002

mdashmdash

mdash

Sb8

002

005

007

002

006

009

mdashmdash

mdash16

011

001

002

009

001

002

mdashmdash

mdash[E]rcon

centratio

nof

thee

lementinrootso

fplant[E]sconcentrationof

thee

lementinsoilon

which

thep

lant

isgrow

ing[E]l

concentrationof

thee

lementinleaves

ofplant[E]stconcentrationof

thee

lement

inthes

tem

ofplant

8 Applied and Environmental Soil Science

surface runoff laden with contaminants It will be interestingto find out the nature of other plants that would be establishedon the site with time and how P australismay take up Pb andSb

4 Conclusions

Contamination of soil with LAB recycling wastes and poten-tial early uptake of Pb and Sb by P australis after 8 and16 weeks of planting were studied at a dumpsite Slag andLAB recycling processes introduced large quantities of Pband Sb into soil altered soil characteristics and destroyedindigenous vegetation Soil with recycled slag had lowernutrient (NO3

minus PO43minus) content OM and trace elements (Pb

Sb) than soil with nonrecycled slag Uptake of Pb and Sb byroots of P australis appeared to increase over time althoughthe poor accumulation in leaves and stems appeared toremain constantThe NR soil treatment appeared to promoteroot uptake of Sb compared to Pb Phragmites australis poorlyaccumulates Pb and Sb into roots and poorly translocatesthem to leaves and thus it is a poor candidate speciesfor phytoextraction in contaminated field soil conditionsHowever its ability to be established on a site where allvegetation had been destroyed could further be explored asa starting point for ecological restoration Accumulation ofPb and Sb by P australis in the long term and possibilitiesof whether other plant species would get established onthis site may need further studies Based on findings andresults obtained in the current study the authors recommendbiological monitoring of Pb in urine hair and blood samplesfor LAB recyclingworkers and populations residing near LABsmelters and dumpsites

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding the publication of this article

References

[1] A Kabata-Pendias Trace Elements in Soils and Plants Taylorand Francis New York NY USA 4th edition 2011

[2] A Kabata-Pendias ldquoSoil-plant transfer of trace elementsmdashanenvironmental issuerdquo Geoderma vol 122 no 2ndash4 pp 143ndash1492004

[3] Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)Toxicological Profile for Antimony and Compounds US PublicHealth Service Washington DC USA 1992

[4] Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)Toxicological Profile for Lead US Public Health Service Wash-ington DC USA 2007

[5] US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) ldquoInnovativetreatment technologies semi-annual status reportrdquo EPA5402-91014 US EPA Washington DC USA 1991

[6] C J Rhodes ldquoApplications of bioremediation and phytoreme-diationrdquo Science Progress vol 96 no 4 pp 417ndash427 2013

[7] H Ali E Khan and M A Sajad ldquoPhytoremediation of heavymetalsmdashconcepts and applicationsrdquo Chemosphere vol 91 no 7pp 869ndash881 2013

[8] M M Lasat ldquoPhytoextraction of toxic metals a review ofbiological mechanismsrdquo Journal of Environmental Quality vol31 no 1 pp 109ndash120 2002

[9] N Marmiroli M Marmiroli and E Maesti ldquoPhytoremediationand phytotechnologies a review for the present and the futurerdquoin Soil and Water pollution Monitoring Protection and Remedi-ation I Twardowska et al Ed pp 403ndash416 Springer BerlinGermany 2006

[10] M Mench N Lepp V Bert et al ldquoSuccesses and limitationsof phytotechnologies at field scale outcomes assessment andoutlook fromCOSTAction 859rdquo Journal of Soils and Sedimentsvol 10 no 6 pp 1039ndash1070 2010

[11] P Sharma and S Pandey ldquoStatus of phytoremediation in worldscenariordquo International Journal of Environmental Bioremedia-tion and Biodegradation vol 2 no 4 pp 178ndash191 2014

[12] N Shabani and M H Sayadi ldquoEvaluation of heavy metalsaccumulation by two emergent macrophytes from the pollutedsoil an experimental studyrdquo Environmentalist vol 32 no 1 pp91ndash98 2012

[13] United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) ldquoTechnicalguidelines for the environmentally sound management of lead-acid battery wastesrdquo UNEPCHWTWG201 UNEP GenevaSwitzerland 2002

[14] A Smaniotto A Antunes I D N Filho et al ldquoQualitativelead extraction from recycled lead-acid batteries slagrdquo Journalof Hazardous Materials vol 172 no 2-3 pp 1677ndash1680 2009

[15] M D Royer A Selvakumar and R Gaire ldquoControl technolo-gies for remediation of contaminated soil and waste depositsat super fund lead battery recycling sitesrdquo Journal of the Air ampWasteManagement Association vol 42 no 7 pp 970ndash980 1992

[16] J Swearingen and K Saltonstall Phragmites Field GuideDistinguishing Native and Exotic Forms of Common Reed(Phragmites australis) in the United States Plant ConservationAlliance Weeds Gone Wild 2010 httpwwwnpsgovplantsalienpubsindexhtm

[17] P Li W Han N Thevs et al ldquoA comparison of the functionaltraits of common reed (Phragmites australis) in NorthernChina aquatic versus terrestrial ecotypesrdquo PLoSONE vol 9 no2 Article ID e89063 2014

[18] C L Gucker Phragmites australis in Fire Effects InformationSystem US Department of Agriculture Forest Service RockyMountain Research Station Fire Sciences Laboratory 2008httpwwwfsfedusdatabasefeis

[19] F Ghassemzadeh H Yousefzadeh and M H Arbab-ZavarldquoRemoving arsenic and antimony by Phragmites australisrhizofiltration technologyrdquo Journal of Applied Sciences vol 8no 9 pp 1668ndash1675 2008

[20] N A Anjum I Ahmad M Valega et al ldquoSalt marsh macro-phyte Phragmites australis strategies assessment for its domi-nance in mercury-contaminated coastal lagoon (Ria de AveiroPortugal)rdquo Environmental Science and Pollution Research vol19 no 7 pp 2879ndash2888 2012

[21] E Grisey X Laffray O Contoz E Cavalli J Mudry and LAleya ldquoThe bioaccumulation performance of reeds and cattailsin a constructed treatment wetland for removal of heavy metalsin landfill leachate treatment (Etueffont France)rdquoWater Air ampSoil Pollution vol 223 no 4 pp 1723ndash1741 2012

[22] J Gotosa K Nezandonyi A Kanda S M Mushiri A Kuh-lande and T Nyamugure ldquoEffects of irrigating Eucalyptusgrandis plantations with a mixture of domestic and pulpand paper mill effluent on soil quality at a site in northern

8 Applied and Environmental Soil Science

surface runoff laden with contaminants It will be interestingto find out the nature of other plants that would be establishedon the site with time and how P australismay take up Pb andSb

4 Conclusions

Contamination of soil with LAB recycling wastes and poten-tial early uptake of Pb and Sb by P australis after 8 and16 weeks of planting were studied at a dumpsite Slag andLAB recycling processes introduced large quantities of Pband Sb into soil altered soil characteristics and destroyedindigenous vegetation Soil with recycled slag had lowernutrient (NO3

minus PO43minus) content OM and trace elements (Pb

Sb) than soil with nonrecycled slag Uptake of Pb and Sb byroots of P australis appeared to increase over time althoughthe poor accumulation in leaves and stems appeared toremain constantThe NR soil treatment appeared to promoteroot uptake of Sb compared to Pb Phragmites australis poorlyaccumulates Pb and Sb into roots and poorly translocatesthem to leaves and thus it is a poor candidate speciesfor phytoextraction in contaminated field soil conditionsHowever its ability to be established on a site where allvegetation had been destroyed could further be explored asa starting point for ecological restoration Accumulation ofPb and Sb by P australis in the long term and possibilitiesof whether other plant species would get established onthis site may need further studies Based on findings andresults obtained in the current study the authors recommendbiological monitoring of Pb in urine hair and blood samplesfor LAB recyclingworkers and populations residing near LABsmelters and dumpsites

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding the publication of this article

References

[1] A Kabata-Pendias Trace Elements in Soils and Plants Taylorand Francis New York NY USA 4th edition 2011

[2] A Kabata-Pendias ldquoSoil-plant transfer of trace elementsmdashanenvironmental issuerdquo Geoderma vol 122 no 2ndash4 pp 143ndash1492004

[3] Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)Toxicological Profile for Antimony and Compounds US PublicHealth Service Washington DC USA 1992

[4] Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)Toxicological Profile for Lead US Public Health Service Wash-ington DC USA 2007

[5] US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) ldquoInnovativetreatment technologies semi-annual status reportrdquo EPA5402-91014 US EPA Washington DC USA 1991

[6] C J Rhodes ldquoApplications of bioremediation and phytoreme-diationrdquo Science Progress vol 96 no 4 pp 417ndash427 2013

[7] H Ali E Khan and M A Sajad ldquoPhytoremediation of heavymetalsmdashconcepts and applicationsrdquo Chemosphere vol 91 no 7pp 869ndash881 2013

[8] M M Lasat ldquoPhytoextraction of toxic metals a review ofbiological mechanismsrdquo Journal of Environmental Quality vol31 no 1 pp 109ndash120 2002

[9] N Marmiroli M Marmiroli and E Maesti ldquoPhytoremediationand phytotechnologies a review for the present and the futurerdquoin Soil and Water pollution Monitoring Protection and Remedi-ation I Twardowska et al Ed pp 403ndash416 Springer BerlinGermany 2006

[10] M Mench N Lepp V Bert et al ldquoSuccesses and limitationsof phytotechnologies at field scale outcomes assessment andoutlook fromCOSTAction 859rdquo Journal of Soils and Sedimentsvol 10 no 6 pp 1039ndash1070 2010

[11] P Sharma and S Pandey ldquoStatus of phytoremediation in worldscenariordquo International Journal of Environmental Bioremedia-tion and Biodegradation vol 2 no 4 pp 178ndash191 2014

[12] N Shabani and M H Sayadi ldquoEvaluation of heavy metalsaccumulation by two emergent macrophytes from the pollutedsoil an experimental studyrdquo Environmentalist vol 32 no 1 pp91ndash98 2012

[13] United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) ldquoTechnicalguidelines for the environmentally sound management of lead-acid battery wastesrdquo UNEPCHWTWG201 UNEP GenevaSwitzerland 2002

[14] A Smaniotto A Antunes I D N Filho et al ldquoQualitativelead extraction from recycled lead-acid batteries slagrdquo Journalof Hazardous Materials vol 172 no 2-3 pp 1677ndash1680 2009

[15] M D Royer A Selvakumar and R Gaire ldquoControl technolo-gies for remediation of contaminated soil and waste depositsat super fund lead battery recycling sitesrdquo Journal of the Air ampWasteManagement Association vol 42 no 7 pp 970ndash980 1992

[16] J Swearingen and K Saltonstall Phragmites Field GuideDistinguishing Native and Exotic Forms of Common Reed(Phragmites australis) in the United States Plant ConservationAlliance Weeds Gone Wild 2010 httpwwwnpsgovplantsalienpubsindexhtm

[17] P Li W Han N Thevs et al ldquoA comparison of the functionaltraits of common reed (Phragmites australis) in NorthernChina aquatic versus terrestrial ecotypesrdquo PLoSONE vol 9 no2 Article ID e89063 2014

[18] C L Gucker Phragmites australis in Fire Effects InformationSystem US Department of Agriculture Forest Service RockyMountain Research Station Fire Sciences Laboratory 2008httpwwwfsfedusdatabasefeis

[19] F Ghassemzadeh H Yousefzadeh and M H Arbab-ZavarldquoRemoving arsenic and antimony by Phragmites australisrhizofiltration technologyrdquo Journal of Applied Sciences vol 8no 9 pp 1668ndash1675 2008

[20] N A Anjum I Ahmad M Valega et al ldquoSalt marsh macro-phyte Phragmites australis strategies assessment for its domi-nance in mercury-contaminated coastal lagoon (Ria de AveiroPortugal)rdquo Environmental Science and Pollution Research vol19 no 7 pp 2879ndash2888 2012

[21] E Grisey X Laffray O Contoz E Cavalli J Mudry and LAleya ldquoThe bioaccumulation performance of reeds and cattailsin a constructed treatment wetland for removal of heavy metalsin landfill leachate treatment (Etueffont France)rdquoWater Air ampSoil Pollution vol 223 no 4 pp 1723ndash1741 2012

[22] J Gotosa K Nezandonyi A Kanda S M Mushiri A Kuh-lande and T Nyamugure ldquoEffects of irrigating Eucalyptusgrandis plantations with a mixture of domestic and pulpand paper mill effluent on soil quality at a site in northern

Applied and Environmental Soil Science 9

Zimbabwerdquo Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa vol13 no 5 pp 136ndash149 2011

[23] X Song X Hu P Ji Y Li G Chi and Y Song ldquoPhytoremedi-ation of cadmium-contaminated farmland soil by the hyperac-cumulator beta vulgaris L var ciclardquo Bulletin of EnvironmentalContamination and Toxicology vol 88 no 4 pp 623ndash626 2012

[24] M Wang C Zhang Z Zhang F Li and G Guo ldquoDistributionand integrated assessment of lead in an abandoned lead-acid battery site in Southwest China before redevelopmentrdquoEcotoxicology and Environmental Safety vol 128 pp 126ndash1322016

[25] D G Maynard Y P Kalra and J A Crumbaugh ldquoNitrateand exchangeable ammonium nitrogenrdquo in Soil Sampling andMethods of Analysis M R Carter and E G Gregorich Eds pp97ndash106 Taylor and Fracis Boca Raton Fla USA 2nd edition2006

[26] L P van Reeuwijk ldquoProcedures for soil analysisrdquo Tech Rep9 ISRICmdashWorld Soil Information Wageningen Netherlands2002

[27] A Walkley and I Black ldquoAn examination of the Degtjareffmethod for determining soil organic matter and a proposedmodification of the organic acid titration methodrdquo Soil Sciencevol 37 no 1 pp 29ndash38 1934

[28] G W Gee and J W Bauder ldquoParticle size analysisrdquo inMethodsof Soil Analysis Part 1mdashPhysical and Mineralogical MethodsA Klute Ed Agronomy Monograph American Society ofAgronomy Madison Wis USA 2nd edition 1986

[29] Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Guidelines forQuality Management in Soil and Plant Lboratories Quality ofAnalytical Procedures FAO and ISRIC Rome Italy 1998

[30] S Oni O Ogunlaja and O Ladkun ldquoWild plants in anabandoned battery waste siterdquo International Journal of Scientificand Engineering Research vol 5 no 4 pp 991ndash994 2014

[31] T Noguchi T Itai N M Tue et al ldquoExposure assessmentof lead to workers and children in the battery recycling craftvillage Dong Mai Vietnamrdquo Journal of Material Cycles andWaste Management vol 16 no 1 pp 46ndash51 2014

[32] FHWere GN Kamau PM ShiunduGAWafula andCMMoturi ldquoAir and blood lead levels in lead acid battery recyclingand manufacturing plants in Kenyardquo Journal of Occupationaland Environmental Hygiene vol 9 no 5 pp 340ndash344 2012

[33] FMG Tack ldquoTrace elements general soil chemistry principlesand processesrdquo in Trace Elements in Soils P Hooda Ed pp 9ndash32 Blackwell West Sussex UK 2010

[34] W A Al-Taisan ldquoSuitability of using Phragmites australisand Tamarix aphylla as vegetation filters in industrial areasrdquoAmerican Journal of Environmental Sciences vol 5 no 6 pp740ndash747 2009

[35] G Bonanno ldquoComparative performance of trace elementbioaccumulation and biomonitoring in the plant species Typhadomingensis Phragmites australis and Arundo donaxrdquo Ecotox-icology and Environmental Safety vol 97 pp 124ndash130 2013

Submit your manuscripts athttpswwwhindawicom

Forestry ResearchInternational Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Environmental and Public Health

Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

EcosystemsJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

MeteorologyAdvances in

EcologyInternational Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Marine BiologyJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Advances in

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Environmental Chemistry

Atmospheric SciencesInternational Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Waste ManagementJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 201

International Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Geological ResearchJournal of

EarthquakesJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

BiodiversityInternational Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

ScientificaHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

OceanographyInternational Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

The Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Journal of Computational Environmental SciencesHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

ClimatologyJournal of

Submit your manuscripts athttpswwwhindawicom

Forestry ResearchInternational Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Environmental and Public Health

Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

EcosystemsJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

MeteorologyAdvances in

EcologyInternational Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Marine BiologyJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Advances in

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Environmental Chemistry

Atmospheric SciencesInternational Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Waste ManagementJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 201

International Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Geological ResearchJournal of

EarthquakesJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

BiodiversityInternational Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

ScientificaHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

OceanographyInternational Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

The Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Journal of Computational Environmental SciencesHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

ClimatologyJournal of